# Commercials that think you're an idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494 "2013-07-03T00:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/21 "2013-07-03T06:38:51Z")
As mortgage rates have increased the mortgage sellers on the radio have gone nuts. 3.5% interest rate - and think of it, you pay off your house in only 10 years! ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/22 "2013-07-03T12:20:38Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > I absolutely love Carls Jr. hamburgers, but their ad campaign for the last several years assumes that all guys are mouth-breathing slobs and brain-dead neanderthals who can’t cook or wipe themselves. To be fair, I think most focus groups confirm this.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/23 "2013-07-03T12:40:12Z")
Any commercial that promises their supplement pill will dissolve your belly fat, lower your blood pressure in minutes, add 50 points to your I.Q etc., but which features a small print [Quack Miranda Warning](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Quack_Miranda_Warning) at the bottom of the screen. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/24 "2013-07-03T13:39:29Z")
“Drivers who switched to our insurance saved an average of $700, so make the switch!” Of course the drivers who switched to your insurance saved money. The ones who wouldn’t end up saving money didn’t switch! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/25 "2013-07-03T13:41:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That commercial for Axe. All of them. Pepper Mill teaches in the local middle school. All the boys use Axe. All the girls hate it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/26 "2013-07-03T14:10:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Pepper Mill teaches in the local middle school. All the boys use Axe. All the girls hate it. I think this is an example where the advertisers _know_ their target customers are idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/27 "2013-07-03T14:17:43Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > > [@jz78817](#): > > > > any damn infomercial which makes it seem like people can’t do mundane tasks such as folding a T-shirt without suffering life-threatening injuries. > > [“Tired of stabbing your brain with Q-Tips?..”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htbo1yW6qeU) That one is hilarious. The guy in the commercial _barely_ inserts the Q-Tip in his ear and he jumps as if he’d just jammed a red-hot fire poker in there. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/28 "2013-07-03T14:28:02Z")
We’ve got a local radio ad for some sort of weight loss program at some sort of local weight loss shack. At the end of the ad, they warn in a concerned doctor voice,“If you find yourself losing more than 10 pounds a week on this program, please report back in so we can adjust your plan to a safe level.” This phony “warning” is an obvious advertising come-on. It’s got to turn off way more people than very few gullible folks that fall for the pitch. I get angry every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/29 "2013-07-03T14:33:39Z")
[Lots of wonderful gifs of people being morons in infomerials.](http://www.reddit.com/r/wheredidthesodago) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/30 "2013-07-03T14:41:26Z")
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The most offensive commercials in terms of treating people like idiots are those sanctimonious, moral-high-ground-having, **[thetruth.org](http://thetruth.org)** anti-smoking ads. Really?! It’s 2013 and you actually think there’s a person anywhere that doesn’t know that smoking is bad for you?! I don’t smoke, never have, don’t like the smell (though I don’t claim to have an imaginary ‘allergy’ to it) and yet these ads are so ‘Refer Madness’-ly condescending they make me \*\*\*want \*\*\*to start smoking!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/31 "2013-07-03T14:46:42Z")
“We enforce a _strict_ limit of X products per customer” Riiiiiiight. Sure you do. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/32 "2013-07-03T15:11:41Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > We’ve got a local radio ad for some sort of weight loss program at some sort of local weight loss shack. At the end of the ad, they warn in a concerned doctor voice,“If you find yourself losing more than 10 pounds a week on this program, please report back in so we can adjust your plan to a safe level.” > > This phony “warning” is an obvious advertising come-on. It’s got to turn off way more people than very few gullible folks that fall for the pitch. I get angry every time I hear it. Along that line… [… to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRoG-HyKcqA&t=0m39s) “A four hour erection? Tonight I’m going to masturbate like a motherfuck!” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/33 "2013-07-03T15:35:34Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The Bing commercial where they say something like “more people prefer Bing over Google for the web’s top searches”. > > Okay, that’s cool, but what about the vast majority of my searches which probably aren’t among “the web’s top searches”"? How do you do with those? > > And just what the hell does “the web’s top searches” mean anyway? It means “the ones people prefer Bing for”, silly. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/34 "2013-07-03T15:41:40Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > It’s 2013 and you actually think there’s a person anywhere that doesn’t know that smoking is bad for you?! : Yes, there are many smokers still in denial. The ads are good. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/35 "2013-07-03T15:47:04Z")
Well, if you are watching TV without a mute button or DVR-FF, I would imagine you mental capacity is somewhat diminished. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/36 "2013-07-03T15:59:40Z")
The year is 2013. Anyone who spends any time playing video games knows the difference between what actual game footage looks like and what pre-rendered cutscenes look like. And yet, God help us if every single ad for the next blockbuster game isn’t made entirely out of cutscenes and CGI and doesn’t include so much as a single second of what the game actually looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/37 "2013-07-03T16:09:18Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Along that line… > > [… to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRoG-HyKcqA&t=0m39s) > > “A four hour erection? Tonight I’m going to masturbate like a motherfuck!” A while ago, we had a thread about what they do if you get that 4+ hour erection. Don’t go looking for that thread. Just trust me that it doesn’t involve a happy ending… ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/38 "2013-07-03T16:11:32Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > I absolutely love Carls Jr. hamburgers, but their ad campaign for the last several years assumes that all guys are mouth-breathing slobs and brain-dead neanderthals who can’t cook or wipe themselves. Well, there are LOADS of commercials that start with the assumption that all men (especially Dads) are bumbling idiots who can’t make breakfast for the kids without burning the house down, or can’t do laundry without constant supervision from (infinitely smarter) Mom. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/39 "2013-07-03T16:26:14Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > A while ago, we had a thread about what they do if you get that 4+ hour erection. > > Don’t go looking for that thread. Just trust me that it doesn’t involve a happy ending… I see what you did there… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/40 "2013-07-03T16:27:00Z")
My personal favorites are car commercials, which invariably contain the disclaimer “Professional driver on closed course,” any time the vehicle is moving. Occasionally, the driver is doing something mildly dangerous, like skidding on wet pavement to show off the car’s traction control. Most of the time, however, they’re driving the car down the road in a perfectly safe and sedate manner. Gee, thanks for implying that your customers are too incompetant to actually drive your car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494.md?page=3)